A SCHOOLGIRL from Bury is all set to meet Prime Minister Boris Johnson after her first class work to raise awareness of a rare condition, Development Language Disorder (DLD).

Maeve Gooding, 10, will travel to 10 Downing Street in April to share her story, in recognition for the plethora of medals she has won in swimming and for her involvement with Penathlon UK.

Due to her difficulty with DLD, Maeve struggles with written and verbal communication, but has soldiered on and competed in her school, Guardian Angels's Primary Swimming Gala, where she picked up silver and Bury Primary Multiskills where she was awarded a gold medal.

In school, Maeve uses an iPad to record her responses to questions verbally and uses story boards to act out her thoughts.

On National DLD Awareness Day, she spoke to classmates and told them about her feelings and day-to-day experiences living with DLD, before leaving the class so her friends could produce fact-sheets based on their understanding of her condition.

Bury North MP James Daly visited the school and listened to Maeve's struggles and told her he was impressed that she had been invited to Downing Street.

Maeve said: “My DLD makes me feel different and unique.

"It makes me feel sad sometimes but I have loads of friends who help me out.

"I love going out with my friends, doing Tik Tok dances and playing with my dog and turtle.”

Maeve’s mum Hazel Gooding said: “It takes Maeve a while to get a full sentence out, so we all have to be aware and give her the time to finish what she’s trying to say.

"She has other siblings who always finish her sentences for her!

“She is hilarious and she is dealing with it really, really well.

"It has taken us a few years to get our heads around it and realise how DLD affects communication, reading and writing.

"It was Mrs Doyle, the Specialist Speech and Language teacher who recognised the DLD and that has really, really helped her. She doesn’t know how special she is, she really doesn’t!”